Lamborghini Aventador 2022: design concept, V12 hybrid specs and release date

With the Lamborghini Aventador supercar now eight years old, the Italian marque has revealed some of the first details about its flagship’s successor.

In an interview with Car magazine, the company’s technology chief Maurizio Reggiani confirmed the Aventador replacement will be the first Lamborghini to feature a plug-in hybrid system to help pass the European Union’s strict emissions targets.

“The Aventador replacement will be naturally aspirated and a plug-in hybrid, because this is the best mix of emotion and DNA for Lamborghini,” Reggiani said. “For the moment it is not a problem to be homologated worldwide.”

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Sources also claim that the new Aventador will be built on a “unique” production platform, as opposed to the cheaper Huracan, which shares its underpinnings with the Audi R8.

Development of the new car is well under way, but Lamborghini chief Stefano Domenicali told Car that the company is in no rush to shelve the current Aventador.

“The current model launched in 2011 and still sold 1200 cars last year. Of our [total] volumes it’s still a lot,” he said.

The new car is therefore not expected to arrive for quite some time, but there’s still plenty of information on the table to tide fans over:

Release date

Lamborghini is currently moving from Audi ownership to coming under the watchful eye of Porsche, both of which are owned by the Volkswagen Group, says Car. The move has reportedly slowed development of the Aventodor replacement and it’s not expected to arrive until 2022.

Price

The Aventador and its predecessors, the Murcielago and Diablo, have been Lamborghini’s most powerful mass-production cars - and therefore command a high price tag.

Today’s Aventador costs a little over £270,000 but there’s little to suggest the new model will be significantly more expensive. That, however, may change in the run-up to the car’s release in 2022.

Design

In previous years, Lamborghini has often based the design of its production cars on the look of its limited-run track vehicles or concept models.

For instance, the Aventador’s design can be traced back to the Reventon supercar, while the Huracan’s styling takes several elements from the track-only Sesto Elemento.

Though details about the Aventador successor’s design are scarce, concept artist Avarvarii posted an image on Instagram showing what the new model may look like.

The image suggests the car will adopt several design cues from the radical electric-only Terzo Millennio concept (pictured top), including the Y-shaped daytime running lights at the front and the two aerodynamic fins tucked behind the front wheels.

Towards the rear, the car gains the ultra-tight engine enclosure of the Terzo Millennio, with a thin layer of bodywork connecting the cabin to the rear wheel arches. The design leaves a large hole between the engine compartment and the rear axle, which should provide a significant boost in downforce over the old model.

The design, however, is just a concept and it has yet to be confirmed that the supercar will copy its styling from the radical Terzo Millennio.

Engine and performance

As mentioned by Reggiani, the Aventador replacement will be equipped with a plug-in hybrid system that’s paired to a naturally aspirated engine.

Fans will be happy to hear that the howling 6.5-litre V12 engine that powers the current Aventador will appear in the new car, albeit with a host of upgrades to increase power while keeping emissions to a minimum, says Motor1.

The car’s battery pack will be stored in the centre of the car to help lower its centre of gravity, which in turn improves handling, the website says.

While Lamborghini is keeping details about the hybrid system under lock and key, the fact that it’s a plug-in motor suggests that buyers will be able to drive the car on battery power alone.

The hybrid system can also be used to improve the supercar’s power output, says Car. When the engine and electric motor system work together, the Aventador replacement will produce in excess of 1,000bhp.